Thyme: The Doctor In The Kitchen

This evergreen herb belongs to the Thymus genus and is a member of the mint family. This herb is a relative to the oregano genus Origanum.

CULTIVATION

Thyme is perennial herb ; meaning that it continues to grow beyond the two year span.

Thyme is best suited to be cultivated in hot and sunny location. A well drained soil is also a must for the cultivation of this herb. This herb is known to bloom in the spring season. The plants are drought tolerant. Besides, they can gown in chilly areas. They are found to grow wildly on the mountain highlands.

HISTORY

Rosemary herb has been prevalent in the Ancient Greece and Egypt. The Romans had an irresistible effect on the thyme getting popular among the Egypts. The Romansused to purify their rooms using thyme. The aromatic flavour of this served has often served the European Middle Ages People with the addition of this flavour in cheese and in the liquors.

Thyme was regarded as an auspicious herb. Women often used to give it to knights and warriors as a gift. Thyme was also used as incense in houses of Ancient Egyptians. It was also place on the coffins during funerals.

USES

Kitchen benefits.

The culinary benefits of this herb are of various kinds especially due to its flavour and beautiful aromatic fragrance.

They are sold both fresh and dried. The fresh ones can last only a week under refrigeration, but can be successfully preserved for a few months if kept under proper frozen conditions. The temperature factor is quite important for preserving thyme.

They are sold in bunches of a single stem that have been plucked from the plant.

Dried thymes are widely used in America for their culinary purposes.

Depending on how we are going to use it in our dish, it is chopped and other techniques are applied as per the convenience and necessity of the

Thyme has a stronger flavour on being dried of its water content. The more it gets rid of the water content, the more is it’s flavour.

Medical uses

There are several health benefits of this herb. Hence it is often referred to as one of the healing herbs.

To mention a few of it’s health benefits, here it goes:

Thyme is used to lower blood pressure in human body.

A study has proposed that the extract from this herb can be used to reduce the heart rate of rats.

For human beings, it can be used in place of the common salt while having a meal in order to reduce excess heart rate.

Thyme contains an essential oil which is very efficient in treating natural cough.

On combing thyme with the ivy leaves helps get rid of intense syndromes of bronchitis and other coughing ailments.